John Goleby with his 76 cm tailor from the mouth of the Brisbane River (Picture: Scott Goleby).
Reports are few and far between this week because of the Covid lockdown.
However, I was sent a report, and photo, of Lachie Wombell with a 46 cm redfin he caught recently while casting and retrieving a soft plastic lure from the Crawford, sometimes known as the Smoky River, in the Hotspur area of south western Victoria; certainly, an impressive catch from such a small stream.
John Goleby with another gold-spot cod taken in close proximity to one of the channel markers inside the mouth of the Brisbane River (Picture: Scott Goleby).
Brisbane
Last week I mentioned that Scott Goleby and his son John had been live-baiting around the wharves of Queensland’s Brisbane Port, and getting “done” on almost every occasion as the large inhabitants from beneath invariably managed to flee back to their refuge and part company.
That was, as I explained last week, with the exception of a gold-spot cod of possibly a metre in length that – inexplicably – headed out into open water, was caught and released. So, they decided, some revision of tactics was in order.
Scott told me over the weekend that after another capture of live-bait; a mixture of scad (yakkas), small pike and other odds and sods, they headed for one of the large channel markers, rather than at dockside, hopeful that similar denizens could be tempted from there.
So, with the electric motor running to hold position in the current, and the 50 hp outboard (for extra muscle) also ticking over, over went their first bait.
It was taken almost immediately by another large gold-spot cod that was wrestled into open water, photographed and released.
“Show and tell” obviously, followed down below because all was quiet after that.
Eventually though, they caught a 76 cm tailor, an impressive fish certainly, but nothing comparable in size to the next, another tailor that would have probably measured 90 cm. But that one snipped through the leader beside the boat and escaped.
Lachie Wombell with the 46 cm redfin he caught from the Crawford River in south western Victoria.
Prospects
Again, because of the lock-down with fewer reports than usual, local prospects for next week – weather permitting – include fishing for Australian salmon from local surf beaches like Jan Juc and Bancoora, particularly with high tides occurring in the late afternoon and evening toward the end of the week and over the forthcoming weekend.
The chance of catching a decent snapper or two from Corio Bay also remains a possibility with Jason Treloar recently catching one off North Shore in rough conditions when in all probability, nobody else was out.
And, as I’ve sometimes mentioned, the Portarlington breakwaters offer land-based anglers the opportunity to catch a snapper or two as they have throughout the year, with any forthcoming lockdown restrictions in mind of course.
Freshwater prospects include redfin and trout (both brown and rainbow) from Wurdiboluc Reservoir where lure-casting enthusiasts like Andy Ketelaar, catching several during his recent visits.
Mind you, as we said last week, that Andy’s freshwater success has been punctuated by several equally successful saltwater forays, one at Kilcunda in South Gippsland yielding some good size salmon from the surf.
But again, as I’ve already mentioned, our local beaches have also been producing good catches of salmon.
Bob McPherson photographed several southern right whales within close proximity to the Lee Breakwater at Portland over the weekend.
Colin asks:
I’ve heard that when using threadline or eggbeater reels, that the handle should be on the left side of the reel if the angler is right-handed; is that correct?
Colin, threadline or eggbeater reels were initially developed for casting small metal lures, like Devons, on shallow chalk streams for trout in the UK. They were configured to be wound without changing hands after making the cast (right-hand casting, left-hand winding and vice versa).
This was because changing hands after making a cast would often allow the lure to sink to the bottom and become snagged.
So, to avoid this, right-handed anglers – those at the top of their game anyway – cast with their right hand and wound with their left to retrieve the lure and left-handed anglers, vice versa.
However, with the current availability of large, ambidextrous threadline (eggbeater reels) for beach and boat fishing, it shouldn’t matter on which side of the reel you attach the handle.